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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970710">Target Practice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eileniessa/pseuds/Eileniessa'>Eileniessa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yennaia Flash Fiction Challenge [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bodyguard, F/F, Flash Fiction, Science Fiction, Scientist Tissaia, Soldier Yennefer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:07:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,007</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970710</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eileniessa/pseuds/Eileniessa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yennefer is escorting the colony's head of biological sciences Dr Tissaia de Vries on a field expedition when their group is ambushed.</p><p>Flash fiction and dialogue prompt: “Keep your head down,”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Yennaia Flash Fiction Challenge [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Target Practice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“Keep your head down,” Yennefer shouted.</p><p>She grabbed the back of Tissaia’s top and pulled her behind the rear of the shuttlecraft. Tissaia went down in the sand with a gasp and started patting her forehead and the top her head. Yennefer smelt burnt hair and singed cotton that told her just how close the colony’s head of biological sciences had come to getting incinerated. Yennefer dragged the other woman away from the side of the shuttlecraft before she gave their assailants more target practice.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Tissaia shouted as she tried to clamber to her feet.</p><p>Yennefer ignored her and dropped Tissaia between the port and starboard thrusters. When she tried to get to her feet, Yennefer grabbed her arm and threw her to the floor.</p><p>“Stay the fuck down,” she shouted. “Are you trying to get us both killed?”</p><p>To her credit, Tissaia didn’t flinch and if she’d been less than halfway respectable, Yennefer thought she probably would have spat in her face.</p><p>“I want to get a look at them,” said Tissaia. “I need to observe their movements and behaviour, and-“</p><p>“This is not the time for fieldwork,” said Yennefer. “Stay down. I can’t fight on both sides.</p><p>Tissaia gave her a look that made the cadet in her whimper but crossed her legs and leant against the shuttlecraft. Content that her liability had given up, Yennefer stuck her head around the rear of the craft.</p><p>When the leaders of the Aurora project had voted on a viable planet to build Earth’s third colony, they hadn’t meant to drop their house into somebody else’s backyard. 2-5-6-B had passed all the checks regarding the presence or possible development of intelligent life, which made Yennefer think that somebody might have skimped on the research. Quite how they’d missed the large alien structures protruding from the desert sand was either a mystery or a task that had been skipped over on the survey team’s to-do-list.</p><p>They’d been collecting local plant samples when they’d spotted the tip of a large metal something glistening in the light of the planet’s two small suns. When they’d gotten out of the shuttlecraft for a closer look a bunch of blue alien fuckers had raced over the dunes to meet them. That, as the old saying went, was when the Taveriam shit really hit the impulse engine. The Captain went down first, followed by Tissaia’s assistants and Yennefer’s roommate Sabrina – so at least something good came of it. It had been chaos after that, but somehow, they’d managed to get Dr De Vries, designation VIP, to cover. That was, until she’d started sticking her head where it didn’t belong. That was a soldier’s job.</p><p>Yennefer stuck her head out from behind the shuttle and dropped onto her stomach. The plasma blast buried itself in a dune behind her and Yennefer shuffled back to safety.</p><p>“What do they look like?” Tissaia asked.</p><p>“Angry,” said Yennefer. She reached into the right pocket on her combat trousers and pulled out a grenade.</p><p>Tissaia frowned. “That’s not helpful,” she said.</p><p>“What?” said Yennefer. “Are my scientific observations not up to standard?” She pulled out the pin and got up.</p><p>“Much like your personality,” said Tissaia, “they leave a lot to be desired.”</p><p>Yennefer drew her arm back and winked at Tissaia. “I love working with you too, sunshine,” she said before throwing the grenade.</p><p>It exploded in the sand near the nose of the shuttle and black smoke billowed out of the canister and consumed them.</p><p>Yennefer strapped her rifle to her back and helped Tissaia to her feet. “Time to go,” she said, “and pray they can’t see heat signatures.”</p><p>The shuttlecraft’s door slid open when they passed the landing gear and Yennefer got Tissaia inside before diving in after her. The doors slammed shut and Yennefer got to her feet, intending to make her way to the navigation console before realizing Tissaia had already taken matters into her own hands – again.</p><p>“Say in the back,” Yennefer said, coming up behind her. “It’s safer.”</p><p>“Nowhere is safe with you at the controls,” said Tissaia.</p><p>Yennefer wanted to protest but the large blast that rocketed the shuttle made her reconsider her priorities and she sat down in the co-pilot's seat.</p><p>“Dr de Vries, VIP,” said Tissaia. “Access code four two seven alpha alpha.”</p><p>The consoles lit up and in seconds, beating Yennefer’s time by an embarrassing margin, Tissaia had them up in the air and cruising above the clouds. She piloted the shuttle for a couple of minutes and then turned on the autopilot. They moved into the back of the craft and sat down to write their reports.</p><p>“I did not threaten you,” Yennefer said when she sneaked a glance at Tissaia’s pad.</p><p>“I could put manhandled, if you preferred,” said Tissaia.</p><p>“Go ahead,” Yennefer said as she picked up her pad, “and I’ll be sure to include the part about you jeopardizing the colony’s survival because you wanted to <em>get a look.”</em></p><p>“I was just doing my job,” said Tissaia.</p><p>“So was I,” said Yennefer.</p><p>Tissaia’s eyes grew a hair bigger and she bowed her head, and Yennefer didn’t need an empath to tell her Tissaia felt ashamed.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she said, her nose wrinkled like the words left a bad taste in her mouth. “I’m not used to relying on others.”</p><p>“Maybe you should have thought about that before signing up for a colony mission,” said Yennefer. “Why did you come, anyway?”</p><p>“To get away from my ex,” said Tissaia.</p><p>“Seriously?”</p><p>“Seriously.”</p><p>“That’s rather extreme.”</p><p>“So was she.”</p><p>“You’re gay?”</p><p>Tissaia stiffened. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” she asked.</p><p>“Quite the opposite,” said Yennefer. Though she couldn’t imagine the team responsible for cultivating the population would be too pleased. “I was worried I’d die single in this colony.”</p><p>“You still might.”</p><p>“It’s forty years before the next ship arrives. That’s a long time to wait for Mrs Right.”</p><p>“I can wait,” said Tissaia.</p><p>“We’ll see,” said Yennefer.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another work for the flash fiction challenge. I'm a little behind (I keep writing things too long and having to put them aside for later), but I'm hoping to catch up and have 7 stories out by Friday.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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